MOM Brands buys Pepsi tagline made famous by Michael Jackson

By Ed Stych – National Special Sections Editor, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

Mar 14, 2012, 3:00pm CDT

A new generation of Americans is going to remember Pepsi's old "choice of a new generation" tagline in a completely different way.

Starting in 1984, Pepsi used the tagline in conjunction with ads showing Michael Jackson moonwalking.

But MOM Brands — the new corporate name for Malt-O-Meal Co. — has bought the tagline and now has a middle-aged guy in a bathrobe singing about Better Oats oatmeal.

Minneapolis-based MOM Brands said Wednesday that Pepsico Inc. let its trademark for the "choice of a new generation" tagline expire in 2006. MOM said it applied for the mark in 2009.

MOM Brands said it's another example of its "David vs. Goliath" approach to marketing against the likes of giant rival The Quaker Oats Co. — which is owned by Pepsi.

"We're launching this campaign without a fancy ad agency, celebrity spokesperson, or big advertising budget," MOM Brands spokeswoman Linda Fisher said in a statement. "We're crowd-sourcing video content and are placing it online and on YouTube. We're getting word-of-mouth exposure through social media."

Better Oats was introduced nationwide in 2010 and features 23 varieties of instant oatmeal.